Funds are requested in support of travel and/or registration costs for scientists attending the Genetic Toxicology Gordon Research Conference to be held at Oxford University (Queens College) from August 1-6, 1999. In the broadest terms, the field of Genetic Toxicology is dedicated to understanding how genetic damage occurs and how it can be prevented. Genetic Toxicology thus relies on information drawn from a wide variety of disciplines, including cell/molecular/structural biology, biochemistry, DNA repair, mutagenesis, recombination, meiosis, carcinogenesis, risk evaluation, and molecular epidemiology. This conference is designed to bring together researchers from each of these disciplines. The participants of this bi-annual conference are expected to number about 130 and are drawn from basic scientists in academia, industry, government, and federal regulatory agencies from around the world. The introductory session will be comprised of three special lectures aimed at providing a historical as well as a current perspective to the field of Genetic Toxicology; the highly distinguished lecturers are John Cairns, Bernard Strauss and Evelyn Witkin. Each of the following eight sessions will have a session chair, speakers and a discussion leader, all of whom are experts in some of the aforementioned disciplines. The sessions are designed not only to facilitate the dissemination of the most recent research findings relevant to Genetic Toxicology, but also to stimulate extensive and relevant discussion among the entire audience. Briefly, the sessions will cover the following areas: (i) Structural aspects of protein:DNA interactions that influence genotoxicity; (ii) Interactions of the DNA mismatch repair pathway with DNA base lesions; (iii) Transcription coupled BER and NER; (iv) DNA recombination; (v) Meiosis: crossover between basic biology and risk evaluation; (vi) Signal transduction and inducible responses to genotoxic agents; (vii) Genome alterations: adducts, and mutations; (viii) Genetic susceptibility and molecular epidemiology. In addition, there will be four Poster Sessions for all conference participants to share details of their latest research in any area of Genetic Toxicology. Together, these sessions are designed to address questions related to Genetic Toxicology ranging from the most basic discipline of structural biology using purified proteins and DNA, through to human population-based studies. Such human population-based studies must be fueled by information gleaned from all of the other disciplines that contribute to our understanding of how genomes are damaged, and our understanding of how living organisms endeavor to prevent such damage.